Lake Elmo software developer wins December's Guess the Snowfall

Don Lundgren’s guess that the Twin Cities would see an official 15 inches of snow in December was right on the nose – a term the wine-maker understands well.

The 43-year-old software developer from Lake Elmo grows several varieties of Minnesota-bred grapes for wine-making in his back yard – one reason he pays attention to snowfall.

“It helps the vines over the winter,” he said. Noting that last winter’s snowfall was below normal, but that the December before that was the snowiest on record, Lundgren said he simply picked a number in between.

“It got to be more luck than anything,” he said.

The December contest attracted 179 entrants, more than half of whom, apparently expecting drought to continue, got knocked out by the Dec. 9 blizzard. That dumped an official 10.5 inches on the Twin Cities and 17 on Lundgren’s home in Lake Elmo.

Ilya Pekurovsky of Plymouth also hit the bullseye with a guess of 15 inches for December, but Lundgren’s guess came in three days earlier, so the tie was broken in his favor.

The January contest has also gotten a nice turnout, with 138 guesses in the box just before the New Year’s Eve deadline.

By entering in December, Lundgren is also in the running for the season-long contest. He guessed the Twin Cities would see 65 inches this winter, and right now he’s the man to beat.